It’s not easy to strike a balance between food that’s good for you and food that tastes good, but internist and professional chef Dr. John La Puma – better known as ChefMD – will show you how. In his new book, the inventor of “culinary medicine” outlines a delicious, satisfying plan for whittling your waist while warding off serious health problems…

Call it a health-conscious food lover’s dream come true. In ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine (Crown, 2008), doctor and chef John La Puma offers a blueprint for making smart food choices that are as delicious as they are nutritious. La Puma explains how to build your own “kitchen medicine cabinet,” stocked with vitamin- and antioxidant-rich ingredients. He also shares simple recipes he swears will turn ordinary fruits, veggies and grains into restaurant-quality meals full of flavor.

To highlight the food-medicine link, La Puma cites an eye-opening statistic from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Harvard University studies: A whopping 70% of all heart disease, stroke, diabetes, memory loss and premature wrinkling – and 80% of all cancers – might be prevented through lifestyle changes.

“A healthy lifestyle includes managing stress, avoiding tobacco and getting adequate exercise, but diet is also a big part of it,” La Puma tells LifeScript. “The food plan in this book truly is life-changing.”

La Puma should know. He was his own personal lab rat.

From Quick Fix to Smart ScienceAs a young physician clocking long, grueling hours, La Puma says he became pudgy, paunchy and chronically fatigued.

“While I was worrying about my patients, I gained 30 pounds,” he says of his early years as an internist and medical ethicist. “I could help my patients, but I didn’t know how to help myself.”

After putting himself on a quick-fix crash diet of grapefruit and rice crackers, the pounds melted away. But La Puma felt worse than ever. Determined to find a better route to healthy weight loss, he took a hiatus from medicine to study nutrition and enrolled in culinary school.

Using what he calls culinary medicine, La Puma founded Chef Clinic, which teaches patients how to eat, cook and shop to help prevent disease. He became one of the first physicians to teach cooking and nutrition in a U.S. medical school, at the State University of New York. He also co-authored several best-sellers, including The RealAge Diet (Collins) and Cooking the RealAge Way (Collins), co-written with Michael F. Roizen, M.D. He has an award-winning website (ChefMD.com) and hosts “What’s Cookin’ with ChefMD” on Lifetime’s Health Corner.

ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine is based on a review of 3,000 studies La Puma and his research team did and explains the basics of culinary medicine. It lists 50 disease-fighting foods to include in your diet, along with 50 recipes, and it outlines an eight-week program to overhaul your health. Finally, it tackles dozens of common health problems that Americans face (insomnia, heart disease and depression, to name a few) and suggests specific foods to eat – or not eat – to counter them.

Get the Good Stuff, Lose the BadLa Puma says you must maximize the nutritional value of every food you eat. In scientific terms, this is called bioavailability. In simple terms, it means storing, cutting, preparing and cooking foods in ways that help your body absorb more of the foods’ nutrients. For example, if you cook a whole-wheat crust pizza at 550 degrees for 14 minutes instead of 400 degrees for seven minutes, you double the amount of antioxidants in the crust, La Puma says. Likewise, if you take a vitamin D supplement with a few almonds, cashews or a piece of bread dipped in olive oil, you’ll absorb more of the pill’s bone- and heart-protecting power. That’s because vitamin D is fat-soluble, which means that foods rich in healthy fats help to dissolve it, and then your body can process it more easily.

Next, steer clear of the bad stuff – anti-nutrients – lurking in everyday foods. In his book, La Puma goes through a long list of health saboteurs to avoid and explains the evils of each, from saturated fats to phthalates (chemicals hiding in plastics and food packaging).

Some of the culprits might surprise you: Wholesome-looking loaves of whole grain bread, for example, may be loaded with carcinogenic potassium bromate, which is used to strengthen bread dough and coax it to rise higher.

La Puma’s book is full of strategies to help chronic snackers, mindless munchers and hurried eaters. For example, holding your fork European-style slows your intake; sitting next to light eaters rather than chowhounds will likely cause you to eat less (you’ll mimic their smaller helpings); and developing a post-meal routine like brushing your teeth to signal your brain that you’re finished. Our personal favorite: Feast with abandon four times a year (on your birthday, Thanksgiving or other occasions of your choice). It reminds your brain and body that there’s no famine around the corner and no need to hoard calories for a long, lean winter. Just be sure not to keep leftovers.

Stocking the Kitchen Medicine Cabinet ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine explains what foods to include in your culinary medicine chest and why. La Puma recommends the following:

Cabbage − reduces risk of cancer and possibly Alzheimer’s disease

Romaine lettuce − reduces stroke risk

Swiss chard − increases bone strength

Açai berries − lower bad cholesterol

Pomegranates − reduce heart disease risk

Chiles − jump-start your metabolism and speed weight loss

Tea, onions, apples and citrus fruits − all rich in flavonoids, they can combat heart disease.

La Puma’s Chocolate Blackberry Breakfast Smoothie, featured later, is considered a good bet to battle the blues. “Clinical studies demonstrate that chocolate improves mood,” La Puma says, also pointing out that about 60% of the U.S. population is vitamin B deficient – thanks to insufficient sunlight, which can lead to mood disorders, including depression. “The vitamin B in soy milk and silken tofu (both featured in the smoothie recipe) can help fight depression and prevent certain types of cancers,” he says, “and they help your body absorb calcium.”

La Puma calls his recipes “speed-scratch cooking” because they are quick, simple and use ingredients readily available in most supermarkets. “You start with a dish that’s mostly done and add a couple of convenience foods to make it your own,” he says. “They’re high-quality foods that can doll up almost any dish. I don’t have financial relationships with any of the vendors; I chose them strictly based on flavor, quality and ease of use.” For example, La Puma’s Sicilian Pasta with Swiss Chard, Goat Cheese and Basil recipe starts with a jar of Classico brand tomato basil spaghetti sauce, then “doctors” it up with sardines, fresh basil and red pepper flakes.

What Should You Eat Once you’ve mastered the basics of culinary medicine, La Puma outlines an eight-week optimal-health plan that he promises will give you more energy, reduce your stress levels, help you sleep sounder, clear your skin, and lower your risk for dangerous diseases. It’s not a weight-loss diet, but La Puma says you may shed some pounds by following his guidelines. Each week’s instructions include strategies for exercising, healthier eating habits, suggested recipes, and even adding a new color of food.

“My own patients and the people who email me on ChefMD.com tell me this food has changed their lives,” La Puma says. “They have lower blood pressure, more energy and better sex than they’ve ever had. No matter what you ate yesterday, no matter who you are, having the right food today will make a difference in the way you feel tomorrow.”

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot; coat with cooking spray. Add the broccoli, peppers, and onion; stir fry 3 to 4 minutes or until the broccoli is crisp-tender and the peppers and onion are soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.

3. Spread the tomato paste thinly over the pizza crust. Arrange the sliced tomatoes over the crust; top with broccoli mixture, olives and strands of string cheese. Bake the pizza directly on the oven rack for about 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

4. Transfer to a cutting board; top with the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and basil. Cut into eight wedges.

Recipes reprinted with permission from ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine.

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